Yoga for every body

Month: July 2016

If you or anyone you know has been nervous to try out yoga for the first time, come to my introductory course at Willow Glen Yoga on Sunday August 7th, 11am-1pm.

This class will introduce the fundamentals of yoga in a nurturing, safe environment. You will learn all of the main poses you are most likely to encounter in a yoga class, along with how body, mind and spirit work together uniquely to create movement that is healthy inside and out. We will work on the right alignment for your body, on breathing techniques, and how to find mindfulness on and off of the mat.

Yoga is deeply personal and can impact lives. Begin your exploration with me, through this class. Beginners are absolutely welcome, as are those who would like to go back to basics. Sign up here.

So, I was making steel-cut oats the other morning (yes, very hippy…I even add chia as a topping) and I had one of those thoughts that seemed ridiculous on the surface, but became more interesting to me the more I thought about it. I was waiting for my water to boil, and I turn to my husband and intone “a watched pot never boils”. Nothing new there, right? But then I said, “Well, maybe if you are a Zen master, the pot is always boiling.”

Silly, right? And, I promise you, I wasn’t hitting the Mary Jane. Here’s the thing. Watching the pot and anxiously waiting for it to boil and get to the next stage is agonizing, because all you are thinking of is the next stage. But, if someone is truly in the moment, there’s no attachment. So, when the pot boils, it’s a delightful surprise. And I suppose (although believe me, I have no experience with this level of mindfulness or patience) that at some level of enlightenment, there is no difference between a boiling pot, and a non-boiling one.

When I was in teacher training with the esteemable Noell Clark, she gave a piece of advice that had to do with protecting our necks. As cell phones have become a near constant of our lives, our necks have taken the burden. She offered a piece of advice–use the headrest in our vehicles. I took that to heart. I use it all the time. Not only is it good for my neck, but it’s kind of like I’ve surrendered to being in the car. My aggravation level visibly decreases when I just relax, and rest my head. It takes my monkey mind away from living in the destination, and brings me into the present, which allows me to find contentment in what I’m doing.

Making oatmeal, driving a car. What else can you just surrender to so that the end result is a pleasant surprise? Let me know in the comments.

So, a door closes, and a window opens, and other platitudes is my topic today. If you’ve been reading my blog, you know that my children are starting school this year (in less than a month!), and I’ve had a little time to test-drive what it will be like to get my kids to school on time through the use of summer camps. The answer is that it will be very, very hard to get my children to school on time, at least without big changes to how I run mornings in my house.

My old schedule was extremely luxurious. I would wake up, get dressed in the quiet of the house and head to the yoga studio around 6 or 6:30, do my 90 minute routine, perhaps chat with people afterward, text my husband that I was on my way home, and come back to the glorious scents that only someone who isn’t cooking their own breakfast can enjoy. My husband is the better breakfast cook by far and assumes most responsibility for it, much to my delight. There’s really no reason for me to improve on that front. After breakfast, and an additional cup of tea, washing up, showering, etc., then I would start my day.

This summer I’ve discovered that I can’t actually have it all, not to mention that school starts a full 1/2 hour earlier than anything I’ve signed my kids up for this summer. Unless I were to arrive at the studio an hour before most people get there, it would be impossible to do my routine and make it to school on time. So, what to do? What should I cut? Yoga? Breakfast? Showering? (NO).

I’ve finally surrendered myself to the fact that my yoga practice has to change. If I am just squeezing it in early and rushing through it, ever conscious of the time ticking, am I still doing yoga? Or am I doing surly aerobics? The last couple of weeks, I thought I’d try to adapt a little. Classes at a different time. Different styles of yoga. Yoga at home when the kids aren’t. Adding some aerobics, and then yoga. All this change takes an effort, but I have to tell you, my windows are wide-open right now. My mind has become so curious about what makes yoga special to me. I’m seeing the value in doing different things. I’m sure I’ll settle on something. I am a creature of routine, after all. But for now, it feels good to be back in an exploration phase.

Do I still feel some sadness about not being able to do my special practice in the same way that I have been for the last few years? Yes, of course. But it doesn’t preclude the idea that there might be another special practice right around the corner. Seldom do I try anything new when the old thing works just fine. I have been shoved into change, but now I have moved past the bitterness stage, and into the curious stage, which is a fine place to be.

Not only does Amy make yogi friends thoughtfully designed and beautiful logos, she can also make you pretty much anything you want for any event or party you want to throw, and she makes the prettiest one of a kind stationary you’ve ever seen. Right now, she is on vacation, but save the link to her shop if you want to contact her for work in the future.

In making this logo, it was kind of a fun process. We discussed what I wanted, which she pretty much understood right away. Then all the revisions consisted of me saying “make her fatter!” (which I think probably isn’t a phrase graphic designers hear often) and this is where we landed. I love it!

As a reminder, my Full-Bodied Yoga series launches at Willow Glen Yoga on Monday, July 11th, 11-12:15. It runs for four weeks, until August 1st. Sign up at http://www.willowglenyoga.com/workshops/. This class is perfect for beginners, and can go deeper for those who are already familiar with yoga.